We try to pick an entire decade and pick the highlights out of it. The kind of things that Sky and the BBC will play on the lead-up to a Grand Prix, all the cool stuff.
In both versions of the game, the new F1 Classics mode hosted by Murray Walker will offer players control of a number of legendary drivers and classic cars, meaning you can race five iconic 1980's vehicles against the likes of Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell and Gerhard Berger. The Circuito De Jerez and Brands Hatch circuits will also be available.“
Owners of the premium Classic Edition of the game will also get access to two further content bundles, featuring content from the 1990s as well as additional tracks like Imola and Estoril. These two packs will be offered to anyone who buys the standard edition of the game as DLC shortly after launch, and will include racers like David Coulthard, Jacques Villeneuve, Eddie Irvine and Alain Prost.
The game's creative director Stephen Hood explained, "What we tried to do is, if we include a 1992 Williams in the 90s pack, we tried to include one of the original drivers from that team. In this case it’d be Nigel Mansell that drove in 1992. And then we tried to get a legendary driver that’s recognised as driving for that mark like Mario Andretti, he’s recognised as being in the Lotus era so he can go in that team. We're not replicating a specific year because people only really remember the teams that did really well at the front of the pack anyway, so we try to pick an entire decade and pick the highlights out of it. The kind of things that Sky and the BBC will play on the lead-up to a Grand Prix, all the cool stuff.
"It feels like a really different proposition when you’re sitting at the back of the grid in a Classic race. The drivers that you’re passing aren’t just drivers one, two, three, four, you know? You’ve got Gerhard Berger in front of you. Mario Andretti is in a Lotus coming alongside. It’s awesome to see stuff like that."F1 2013 will be fully integrated with Codemaster's RaceNet community hub that appeared in both F1 2012 and GRID 2, offering challenges, stats and progress tracking. Along with the Grand Prix mode, an expanded Young Drive Test has been developed and a new Scenario Mode will challenges and medals with which racers can hone their skills. Finally, mid-session saves mean players can complete lengthy sections of the game like race weekends in bite-size chunks, rather than commit to a continuous 180-minute session.
I think more people will be able to enjoy what Formula 1 entails and the strategy involved.
Hood revealed, "A problem we had in the past was that people were saying, 'I like the fact that you guys have been really authentic with Formula 1 and in your game I have to manage my tyres and look after my fuel.' They like the concept of it. But that really only comes into play if you’re playing a slightly longer race, and they haven’t got time for it.“
"So what have we done in the past? We incorporated new modes like Champion’s mode in the past to offer bite-sized gameplay, but that doesn’t really fit for Formula 1 in my mind. Not on its own. What we really wanted to do was just enable people to save the game whenever. So you’re on lap 13, you've got to go out for dinner or the phone rings, now you can complete it at a later date. Save and resume whenever you want. I think more people will be able to enjoy what Formula 1 entails and the strategy involved."
More details on F1 2013 will be announced in the coming months. Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Junior Editor. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.
